Have you ever asked yourself, “How can something that represents nothing in particular be so eye-catching to look at?”Well, art is open to interpretation, and that is one of the beautiful things about it, as explained by artist, model, and featured muse of HST’s 2020 calendar, Discord Kitten…Admire her evolving work on her insta page @gloom.kitten

SBB: How did you start making art?

DK: I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil. My mum taught me the basics, and it’s been a pretty big part of my life ever since.

SBB: What is the role of the artist in society?

DK: I think artists are there to share truths, and make people think. To share and spread beauty in all its forms, in a world full of hate.

SBB: Which is more important to you, the subject of your painting, or the way it is executed?

DK: It depends on the piece, to be honest. I am quite impulsive in my choices, but my intuition leads me pretty strongly when I’m giving a creation my all.

SBB: How do you feel when you are letting your emotions loose on the canvas?

DK: I actually work mostly on really nice, thick paper. It allows me to use many media types on the same piece. You go through many emotions while working on a piece. Happiness, warmth, joy at seeing it come together, stress, frustration… haha. It’s always worth it though.

SBB: Is there a piece of artwork you’ve created that you’re most proud of? Why?

DK: There are a few that I love, but proud of… Hmm. Not so much. I struggle to see them as accomplishments. I just get a bit neurotic if I don’t create regularly. Usually I’m turning my concious thoughts off and letting my hands do what they want.

SBB: How do you know when a work is finished?

DK: If I’m ever unsure what mark to make next, I stop. Sometimes I come back to it in a few days and realise it’s finished. Sometimes I come back knowing which direction to take it in. Gut feeling, I guess.

SBB: What is your most important artist tool?

DK: For me, personally, I couldn’t live without my mechanical pencils. Every time I’ve got one in my hand I get inspired. So lightweight and versatile. Usually making such lovely lines. Either that or my Van Gogh watercolor paint palette.

Marc Blackie is a English photographer and filmmaker, whose often controversial work has been described as “Bergmanesque Erotica” & “Jarringly combining eroticism with the uncomfortable and sinister” by the New York Magazine and, less eloquently perhaps, as “if created by David Lynch with a Hard-on”.

His photographs and films convey an ever-so-slightly queasy interpretation of the erotic imagination, via a variety of sexual scenarios and surrealistically charged visions, displaying no small degree of cynicism towards their subject matter and imbued with a laconic wit.

After following a successful career as a photographer, exhibiting Worldwide, including Paris, Rome, London, New York and more, Blackie turned his attention to the medium of cinema and has to date produced over twenty films.

His last project “Fucking Doesn’t Help” premiered at Vienna’s Atelier Theatre and went on to win the “Best Experimental Film” award at the 2017 Hong Kong Third Culture film festival and Nick Knight’s ShowStudio has recently featured his two film collaborations with Tessa Kuragi, “Adoration” and “Sometimes, My Body Betrays Me”.

Blackie’s work is unashamedly unrestrained. Comparisons are as likely to be drawn from Buñuel’s “Un Chien Andalou” as from tropes to be found in contemporary pornography or an unnerving dream one can’t quite shake. This has lead to film screenings being halted by the British Council and an occasional hostile reception to his work from audiences, but Blackie’s work continues to push boundaries and challenge preconceived notions of desire, lust and the ridiculousness of the human libido.

He still continues to pursue an interest in photography, though the short films are now his greatest passion.

He has also produced a number of music videos whilst pursuing a vocation as a cinematographer and writer and currently lives in London, with a variety of emotional issues as they take up less room than cats.